Just a question, got any fluff to back-up using an all-Dread army?
I made the Steel Dragons a while ago as a proper list with Heed The Wisdom, although parts of the fluff have changed in my mind so it's not truely 'up to date' at the moment, but most of the premise is the same:
The Steel DragonsTraitsAdvantages-Heed The Wisdom Of The Ancients (They have lots of casualties and have been a round for quite a wile)
-Cleanse And Purify (They prefer to keep on the move)
Minor Disadvantage-Have Pride In Your Colours (They are stubbornly proud and do not hide from the enemy, they strike like a hammer without warning but they would never hide)
Major Disadvantage-Eye To Eye (They prefer to ‘drop in’ unannounced rather than career across the battlefield)
About The Steel DragonsOriginsThe Steel Dragons’ Gene-Seed originates from the Ravenguard, however their tactics differ slightly, with exception to the mass drop pods.
Home WorldThe Steel Dragons rarely stray far from the Ravenguard home world, Deliverance, as although they are a different Chapter they hold an admiral (some would say unhealthy) respect for their first founding chapter.
Due to this they mainly patrol the Segmentum Tempetsus on small ‘Crusades’. As they have no world to call home they recruit from the planets they save and have at least small establishments on each and every one too.
Tactics/OrganisationWile the Ravenguard employ surgical strikes using their infiltrating skills and fast troops the Steel Dragons employ a similar and dissimilar tactic. They make planet fall but instead of their drop pods holding troops they hold Dreadnoughts.
They rely heavily on their Dreadnoughts (of which they have many) and their Terminators to deliver the punishing blows wile their small (in comparison) amount of troops clear up the leftovers and any enemies too fast for the Dreadnoughts and Terminators.
As a result they are quite close combat orientated but are flexible at the same time, sometimes they will mix close combat units with long ranged units and drop pod/teleport the former into the heat of battle and drop pod/teleport the later into ideal locations where they can dig themselves in and cause some real havoc.
Due to their many Dreadnoughts the Steel Dragons often have veteran Techmarines amongst their ranks and its not uncommon for them to be led by them at times.
They deviated their tactics when their newest Librarian, Nuncio Junius, received a vision from The Emperor telling him ‘To Rely On The Ancients For They Know Best’. Although some met this with scepticism at first their Chapter Master, Regis Quade, immediately reacted and instead of dropping their surgical strike teams of Veteran Space Marine Squads and Tactical Squads they sent down ’Salvo’ Pattern Dreadnoughts and Venerable ‘Assault’ Pattern Dreadnoughts to cleanse the planet of a band of Dark Eldar Pirates. It was estimated that the conflict would take seven hours at the least, but the Dark Eldar were almost totally annihilated off the face of the planet by the combined forces of the Dreadnoughts and scattered Imperial Guard forces in only three hours. The Venerable Dreadnoughts rallied all the Imperial forces around them, performing suicidal charges against the enemy wile the ‘Salvo’ Dreadnoughts steadily advanced pouring endless amounts of Lascannon, Missile and Assault Cannon fire into all that they laid eyes on.
The chapter was victorious and from then on Nuncio was hailed as ‘The Great Messenger’ and they have since heavily used their Dreadnoughts to their fullest and deadliest potential.
Enemies/Friends And Other InformationThe Steel Dragons have 2 main enemies, one within the Imperium and one out of it.
The Steel Dragons detest the Dark Eldar, however, the Steel Dragons respect the Eldar (Craftworld), they will always defend their planet against any threat but they have never hated the Eldar of the Crawftworlds and it’s not uncommon for the two forces to fight side by side (compared to other Chapters) however neither consider themselves allies. This is a bizarre thing as they both hate the Eldar as an enemy but respect their power and skill, therefore considering them a worthy foe.
This respect of a Xenos race has made them more enemies within the Imperium than friends however none oppose their acceptance of the Eldar more furiously then the Dark Knights. For 400 years High Marshal Amadeus Armand has repeatedly requested that the Steel Dragons be branded excommunicate traitors however the Steel Dragons are roughly 10 times older than the Dark Knights (who about 500 years old) and as such have taken part in many more epic battles than the Dark Knights have.
The Steel Dragons are also extremely stubborn and refuse to back down from any fight no matter the odds and will courageously defend a planet down to their last man standing.
CharactersEpistolary Nuncio ‘The Great Messenger’Nuncio is the famed Librarian who, when he was still training, received a vision from the God Emperor to take full advantage of the Chapters Dreadnoughts. Nuncio has now honed his skills and boasts the rank of Epistolary and Chief Librarian of the Steel Dragons. He battles with his Libarium of Terminators, and they all have an unnerving link, no doubt originating from Nuncio himself that allows them to fight as one entity.
The Exalted Brother Chael and ‘The Divine Guidance’Brother Chael was one of the Venerable Dreadnoughts sent to purge the Dark Eldar after the Emperors Message. He fell in battle against an Eldar Farseer and now his psychic talent has been wasted however his tactical prowess is an immense asset to the Steel Dragons and he continues to serve within the armoured sarcophagus or the Dreadnought ‘The Divine Guidance’ which was modified so that Brother Chael would still be awe-inspiring. Brother Chael is the only Steel Dragon that deters from the Chapters colours. Instead of the silver and green Dreadnought that most crippled Battle Brothers are encased in, Chael was encased within a gold and green dragon and he stands proud with the Chapter badge, of course, untouched.
The Exalted Brother Orson and ‘The Steel Claw’Brother Orson was once an Assault Terminator but he was almost slain by an Eldar Avatar. It was decided that surviving, although barely, such an attack was worthy of being encased within a dreadnought and, as with all those who truly prove themselves worthy, it was no ordinary Dreadnought. ‘The Steel Claw’ was modified to have large raking claws similar to lightning claws and numerous other sharp blades placed upon the Dreadnought.
The Exalted Brother Augustus and ‘The Saint Shield’Brother Augustus was once a Master of Sanctity until he disappeared after an attack from a piratical force of Dark Eldar who took him prisoner. After almost a decade he was freed by an unknown power and returned to an Imperial planet where he was found and identified as The Master of Sanctity Augustus. At first it was deemed too risky to emplace him within a dreadnought encase he had been corrupted by the Dark Eldar, however Nuncio ‘The Great Messenger’ personally requested that Brother Augustus be emplaced within a specially designed Dreadnought.
‘We Shall Stand Strong Even To Our Last Man Standing’-The Steel Dragons
‘As Long As One Steel Dragon Stands, We Shall Show No Respite To Our Enemies’-Chapter Master Regis Quade of the Steel Dragons
It's been a while since I've worked on the fluff (as in writing it down), and at present time I've pretty much dropped the heavy termies theme as that, combined with the heavy Dreads, really made the original lists I made unbalanced (very few troops).
~MTWC